Interlocking masons&#39; guide line holders



Aug. 17, 1965 H. D. STONE 3,200,500

INTERLOCKING MASONS' GUIDE LINE HOLDERS Filed Oct. 50, I963 INVENTOR.

H. D. STONE A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,2h0,500 INTERLGQKENG MASsQNS GUIDE LINE HULDERS Harry B). Stone, Uniontown, Pa, assignor to Summit Products Company, Uniontown, Pin, a partnership consisting of Eleanor M. Stone and Harry D. Stone, is. Filed Oct. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 320,029 1 Claim. (CI. 3385) This invention relates to masons guide line blocks or holders, and more particularly to a mating pair of such blocks or holders which are adapted to nest and interlock so as to form a unitary structure.

Masons guide line holders and their usage are well known in the art and disclosed in a number of prior art United States patents including Patent Numbers 1,124,310; 1,594,836; 2,407,389; 2,559,697; 2,865,107 and others.

These devices are usually generally L-shaped elements adapted to engage the opposite ends of brick walls or the like during the building thereof and they have means to retain the masons guide line in a taut and level condition to assist the mason in laying up bricks or the like in a proper manner. To this extent, the mating blocks of the present invention function in the same manner and serve the same basic purpose as the mentioned prior art guide line blocks or holders, and in light of the prior art, it is unnecessary herein to deal in further detail with the general purpose or use of the device in connection with masonry construction.

Masons guide line holders are formed in mating pairs, as stated, and may be formed of wood or other inexpensive material and it has become a common practice to furnish the same free of charge to masons and the like as an advertising and good will gesture by building supply companies and others who deal in this area. Advertising indicia of a suitable character may be printed or otherwise applied to the line holders prior to their free distribution.

Since the mating pairs of blocks or holders are separately formed, a problem arises in the distribution thereof concerning packaging and handling and this adds considerable expense to the overall manufacturing costs rendering it more difficult and costly to furnish the holders on a gift or free basis.

The prime object of this invention is to dispense with the necessity for boxing, packaging, wrapping, tying together or providing any separately formed securing means whatsoever for each mating pair of the holders, by the provision directly thereon of novel interlocking means whereby each pair of holders may be securely nested and interlocked frictionally to form a unitary or one-piece structure for ease of handling.

The masonry guide line holders of this invention are ideally formed of plastic material so that they will possess a desired degree of resiliency to facilitate the firm interlocking or assemblage thereof into a unitary structure. The arrangement allows the manufacturer or distributor of the holders to dispense entirely with packaging and wrapping and other separately formed means for integrating the pair of holders for shipment and distribution. The invention also aids the mason or user of the holders in that the two mating parts will not become readily separated in a tool box and this lessens the likelihood of loss and misplacement and keeps the pair of holders together and assembled during storage in a convenient manner. The overall cost of supplying the line holders on a free or very economical basis is materially lessened by the invention and the main objective of the invention is thus fully accomplished with substantially no increase in the cost of manufacturing the blocks or holders per se.

3,2005% Patented Aug. 17, 1965 Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

FlGURE l is a perspective view of a masons guide line holder embodying the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a further perspective view showing the opposite side of the holder,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of a pair of the mating holders prior to bringing them into nested interlocking relation, and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of said pair in the nested and interlocked condition to form a unitary substantially rigid structure.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates a masons guide line block or holder in its entirety, preferably formed by molding from a suitable tough plastic material. The block is quite rigid in the completed form but possesses some degree of resiliency due to being formed from plastic. The block 10 is generally L-shaped in configuration and has an elongated longitudinal body portion 11 and a relatively short transverse extension 12 at one end of the body portion and projecting beyond one side thereof only as shown in the drawings. As fully explained in the mentioned prior patents, the transverse portion 12 engages the opposite ends of a masonry wall being constructed and the body portion 11 overlies the front face of the wall in parallelism thereto. A pair of the blocks 10 are employed and they are connected by the masons guide line, not shown herein, and when the line is suitably tensioned between the blocks, the port-ions 12 grip the ends of the wall frictionally and become adjustably anchored thereto or self-supporting so that the two blocks and the interconnecting guide line form a unit for the purposes specified in said patents.

As is customary, the transverse portion 12 has a narrow slot 113 formed therethrough for the anchorage of one end of the flexible guide line which is usually knotted to provide anchorage of the line within the slot. The inner face 14 of the body portion 11 which engages the front of the wall during use has a straight longitudinal groove 15 formed therein in alignment with the slot 13 to receive the end portion of the line leading from the slot for stabilizing the line between the two blocks. All of this is well known in the art and conventional.

The body portion 11 is preferably hollowed-out at 16 on opposite sides thereof to reduce weight and conserve material and the transverse portion 12 is similarly recessed or hollowed at 17 on opposite sides thereof for the same purposes. The intermediate web 18 interconnecting the body portion 11 and transverse portion 12 is preferably braced by an integral brace 19 for the obvious purpose of strengthening the block or holder. These last-named features are non-functional and play no significant part in the invention and the holder or block 10 could, if desired, be formed solid from plastic material or from any other suitable material such as wood, metal or the like. However, plastic is ideal, as stated, to facilitate the firm interlocking of the pair of blocks for the specified purpose, which is the essence of the invention.

FIGURE 3 shows a pair of the blocks 10 which together and with the flexible line, not shown, constitute the instrument for use by the mason as described in said prior patents. The identical blocks 10 are shown separated in FIGURE 3 but positioned to be moved together longitudinally for interfitting relation and interlocking as depicted in FIGURE 4.

To render possible this firm interlocking, each block is provided in its leading end and outer face with a rectangular notch or recess extending entirely thereacross transversely. Each block is further provided on the inner extremity and forward side of its portion 12 with a transverse short projection or tongue 21 adapted to engage within the opposed notch 20 of the opposite block of said pair. The dimensioning of the notches 20 and tongue 21 and their relative positions on the blocks are such that when the two blocks are shifted together as in FIGURE 4 with their flat faces 14 in contacting relation, the tongues 21 will engage within the notches 20 under tension or with a relatively high degree of friction, sufiicient to firmly secure the two blocks together as a unit, FIGURE 4. In other Words, when the two blocks or holders are assembled and interlocked as in FIGURE 4, there exists an interference or pressed fit between the respective recesses 20 or notches and the tongues 21 due to the dimensioning of the parts. The arrangement is such that the blocks may be readily separated manually without ditliculty but there is sufficient tension and friction at the interfitting parts 14, 20 and 21 to render the assemblage of FIGURE 4 quite secure so that packaging, boxing, wrapping or tying of the blocks is not necessary for all practical purposes. The somewhat resilient plastic material utilized in the blocks is ideally suited to render the interlocking of the blocks secure or firm. When the blocks are interfitting and interlocked, FIGURE 4, they constitute an elongated rectangular unit which is stable and the forward ends 22 of the body portions 11 preferably abut the forward faces 23 of the transverse portions 12. The exterior surfaces of the assembled blocks are substantially free of projections and there is no tendency for the blocks to separate when they are placed loosely in a tool box or the like. The assembled unit is well adapted to be distributed to an ultimate user with boxing, packaging or otherwise securing with separable fastener means and this is the purpose of the invention and the feature which substantially reduces the overall cost of distribution. This is very important in the case of an article which may be distributed free or at very nominal cost for advertising purposes or good will purposes. The outer longitudinal faces 24 of the blocks may have suitable advertising indicia applied thereto in any conventional manner. The blocks thus formed are useable almost indefinitely and may be quickly separated for use iin the manner well known with the masons guide line, after which the blocks may again be interlocked and nested in the manner shown and described.

it is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, Without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claim.

What is claimed:

A companion pair of masons guide line holders adapted to interfit and frictionally interlock so as to form a substantially rigid assembled unit, each holder of said pair formed of resilient plastic and being approximately L-shaped and comprising a longitudinal portion and an end transverse portion projecting laterally beyond one side only of the longitudinal portion, each holder having a slot formed in its end adjacent the transverse portion for the anchorage of a guide line, the longitudinal portions of both holders provided in their forward ends and corresponding outer corners with approximately right angular recesses extending for the full widths of the longitudinal portions, and complementally-shaped tongues on the transverse portions of both holders at the corners thereof diagonally opposite the longitudinal portions and projecting inwardly of the transverse portions in the directions of the longitudinal portions, whereby said pair of holders may be assembled with said longitudinal portions in side-by-side contacting relation and with the transverse portions opposed to and abutting the ends of the longitudinal portions, said tongues then entering said recesses at diagonally oppoiste points on the assembled holders, said tongues and recesses dimensioned so as to have an interference fit causing the holders to be frictionally interlocked when assembled.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 845,291 2/07 Breckenridge 33-208 1,055,019 3/13 Cammarata 33-85 1,342,979 6/20 Beitner 20-92 2,290,369 7/42 Fleischrnann -452 3,119,186 1/64 Stewart 33-85 ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner. 

